tribal confederation · Iberia

Callaeci

500 BCE – 19 BCE (approx.)

The hillfort peoples of north-western Iberia, whose castro culture shaped Galicia and northern Portugal and who held out against Rome until 19 BCE.

Origins

The Callaeci, or Gallaeci, occupied the north-west of Iberia north of the Douro, in modern Galicia and northern Portugal. Their culture grew from the Late Bronze Age into the Iron Age castro culture, marked by hundreds of fortified hilltop settlements of round stone houses.

Rule and society

They were divided into many small communities rather than one state, each based on a castro such as Citânia de Briteiros or Santa Tecla. They mined gold and tin, worked bronze and gold into torcs, and built sauna-like bathhouses with carved stones. They spoke a Celtic language, worshipped gods such as Bandua, and erected stone warrior statues.

Decline and legacy

Decimus Junius Brutus campaigned among them in 137 BCE and took the name Callaicus, but conquest was completed only in Augustus' Cantabrian Wars, ending in 19 BCE. Their land became the Roman region and later province of Gallaecia.

Lineage

CallaeciHispania Tarraconensis 27 BCE – 472 CE

Connections (1)

Callaeci was conquered by Roman Empire137 BCE – 19 BCE

More states of Iberia →

Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Callaeci. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/callaeci
MLA: “Callaeci.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/callaeci. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Callaeci.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/callaeci.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Callaeci’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/callaeci (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻